Beat of the Heart
by Muse-san
Summary: 2xH fluff--Post war--one shot--Please read author's note!


DISCLAIMER: Sorry, don't own GW!  
A/N: Hey yall! I have realized how primitive and undeveloped my stories are after re-reading them. Sometimes, when writing, I get caught up in the moment and just start typing. At the moment, my stories look good, but now they just seem really under developed and the characters are WAY WAY too OOC. So, I have decided to give all my fics one last shot before I delete them. This will be taken off the site on Monday, March 31.   
Sitting on the small couch, Duo looked at the picture on the coffee table beside him. Hilde…  
It was a picture of Hilde and Duo right after the war. They had been at a picnic with Heero and Relena. The couples had traces of chips and potato salad on their clothes and in their hair--the playful Duo had started a food fight and Relena had insisted on pictures to remember. Hilde had been rather reluctant to the idea and, quickly, Duo had grabbed Hilde and pulled her into his lap and wrapped his arms around her possessively.   
  
FLASH BACK  
"Duo!" she shrieked. "Let me go! I don't want my picture!"  
  
"Come on, my little minx! Just smile for the camera or.." he grinned mischievously, "I can always tickle that smile out of you!" The young German girl began to squeal her giggles as his fingers worked themselves under her arms, and a smile surfaced as Relena quickly snapped the picture.  
END FLASHBACK  
  
Sighing, Duo tore his eyes away from the picture. That had been two years ago…  
  
Sometimes it's hard you don't wanna look over your shoulder  
Cause you don't want to  
Remember where you've been  
  
FLASHBACK  
"Hilde….I can't stay. I'm sorry. I just don't feel that way," Duo gritted. He clenched his fists and turned away from her to the door. He could tell she was crying, due to the quiet gasps for breath. She loved him. How can you love me, Hilde? I'm a soldier…I've killed too many people. You can't love me. I don't deserve it, he thought.  
"Duo, please, don't leave. I-I love you, doesn't that mean anything? How can you just drop everything and go?" The brunette gasped out between her silent sobs that wracked her body.   
"You don't understand. I'm going and that's that," the usually playful pilot stated in an unfitting stern tone. "Goodbye."  
END FLASHBACK  
  
There'll come a time you'd die  
If you could only hold her  
I know..  
That's where..  
I am..  
  
Looking at the picture, Duo remembered how he had tossed and turned every night for the past couple of years knowing that the girl he had unwittingly fallen in love with wasn't in the next room, and when he woke up, her electric smile wouldn't greet him. Even now, knowing that she'd come through the door at any moment, his hands ached to run through her silky hair, and to stroke her soft skin. Right after he left, he had those feelings, but up until now...he'd never realized how much he needed her. He thought that she didn't mean that much to him. His friend proved him otherwise when he walked in on Duo talking about her to himself.   
  
So listen with all your heart  
Hold it inside forever  
You may find all your dreams  
Have already come true  
  
FLASHBACK  
"Hey, Duo," a blonde man said. Duo whirled around to come face to face with the Arabian man.   
"H-h-how long have you been there?" Duo frantically asked. The look on Quatre's face told him that he had heard enough. He knew that he…missed Hilde. "I want to be with her--talk to her. Why? I thought that she didn't mean that much."  
"Duo, just listen to your heart. What does it tell you?" Quatre smiled.  
  
So look inside and find the part that's leading you  
Cuz that's the beat of the heart  
  
Duo laughed bitterly. "My heart? What heart? I thought it said to leave her…and I did. Now I regret listening to my heart."  
"Why did your heart say that? Maybe it was because you were afraid to love someone again since you've lost everything you've loved." The Arabian looked gently at the braided brunette.   
"AFRAID? I'm a pilot. No, not just a pilot. A GUNDAM PILOT! Why should I be afraid? I'm not scared of loving Hil---oh my gosh." Duo stopped mid-sentence and realized what he had just said in his little outburst as tears rolled down his cheeks.  
  
Sometimes you'll drown it out with all your raging thunder  
Sometimes you'll drown it out with all your tears  
There'll come a time when you'll  
Hear it and you'll wonder  
Where in..  
The world..  
Have I been?  
  
"I loved her. I mean, I love her."  
So listen with all your heart  
Hold it inside forever  
You may find all your dreams  
Have already come true  
So look inside and find the part that's leading you  
Cuz that's the beat of the heart  
  
"What do I do? I hurt her when I left…so badly," Duo cried. Pity filled Quatre's eyes as he saw what his only possible answer to this broken man's question.  
  
No one..  
Can tell you how to get there  
It's a road you take  
All by yourself  
  
"I can't tell you. You have to decide."  
  
END FLASHBACK  
  
A door opened, and slammed closed. A young German brunette deposited her jacked and hat on a hanger beside the door, as she softly sang "Because you loved me." Turning around, she let out a small yelp at the site. A braided man sat on her couch, violet eyes filled with pain.   
  
So listen with all your heart  
Hold it inside forever  
You may find all your dreams  
Have already come true  
  
He rose from the couch and walked over to her. She stared at him, still as a statue. "D-d-duo? What are you doing here?"  
He reached out a hand and touched her cheek, letting his thumb stroke her jaw line. He slid his hand around to her nape on the back of her neck and put his other arm around her waist as he pulled her closer. Her small arms instinctively wrapped around his neck, and she shuddered as she felt his warm breath on her ear as he whispered the words she had longed to hear since she met him.  
"I love you."  
  
So look inside and find the part that's leading you  
  
"Oh Duo!" she cried softly, and she felt his hand wipe the tears away. "You're back…you're back…"she kept repeating quietly.  
"I couldn't stay away from you. I realized too late--I'm so sorry, my minx, for leaving you. I-I didn't see my own feelings for you until I said them accidentally. I finally figured out that I loved you. Can you forgive me?"  
  
Cuz that's the beat of  
Oh it's the sweetest sound  
That's the beat of   
  
Chuckling at the anxious look in his eyes, Hilde said, "I did two years ago." Smiling, she received his gentle kiss and held him close.  
  
The heart.....  
  
A/N: How was it? That's nice. Too bad I can't read your mind. In other words, please review. I would appreciate it very much! Thanks to TENOKO for your help! :) Along with all the other helpful reviews!! God bless!! 


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